


Summer Slipped Away

by sophie_evelyn



Category: Coronation Street
Genre: Angst, Comfort, F/F, Hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 13:45:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14874863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophie_evelyn/pseuds/sophie_evelyn
Summary: It's the day of Aiden's funeral and Kate is nowhere to be found.





	Summer Slipped Away

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first time writing for Kate and Rana so characterisation's may be a little iffy. I had this idea that wouldn't leave my head though and knew I had to write it. Let me know what you think!

It was raining despite the weather saying that it would be one of the warmest days of the year. ‘Typical,’ she thought to herself. She was supposed to be with the rest of her family, they were getting ready together, preparing themselves for what was possibly the hardest day that they would have to go through.

She couldn’t face them though. She needed to be alone for a while to collect her thoughts and build up all the courage that she needed to make it through. She wanted to put off this moment for as long as possible, she still had no idea how she felt or how she should feel. She wished that she could just skip the day entirely.

The atmosphere within the Connor’s home was frosty at best. Johnny was being unnervingly quiet and would only speak when a question was directly fired his way. Jenny was preoccupying herself with just about anything that she could find to do, she had already washed the dishes and she was currently rearranging the fridge magnets. Michelle and Robert had shared some short conversations but they too were quieter than usual. Carla had tried to start a conversation but had soon given up and was currently fixing her makeup in front of the mirror. Rana was sitting uncomfortably on the sofa, not knowing quite what to say or where to look and glancing down at her mobile so as to save herself from saying the wrong thing.

“Where the hell is Kate?” Carla asked as she pinned a loose strand of hair back up into her ponytail.

Michelle shrugged and looked around at the empty space on the sofa next to Rana which Kate had previously occupied. “She went to get milk about ten minutes ago.”

“She better not be long I’m gagging for a cuppa.” Jenny interjected and walked away from the fridge to join the majority of the group in the living room.

Rana hadn’t long arrived before Kate had volunteered to buy the milk and she had wanted to go with her but she had figured that Kate had needed some space. “I think I’m gonna go and look for her,” Rana stood up from the sofa and was met with a series of nods as she did so.

“Thanks, love.” Carla sent her a reassuring smile as she left the room, if Kate had indeed gone awol which she presumed that she had done, then Rana would be the best person to find her.

Rana knew that Kate had been bottling up everything again. She knew that Kate didn’t really ‘do’ funerals and she regretted that she hadn't left with her before. She groaned as soon as the light drizzle hit her head and pulled her jacket up over herself so as to shield her hair from the imposing shower.

She looked around the near empty street in front of her, the cobbles were gleaming from where the rain had fallen and the street as a whole looked reasonably dull and dark as if the weather could tell that the day was going to be filled with grief and sadness. She thought where it was that Kate could be, she knew that Kate would have wanted to be alone so she knew that she wouldn’t be at the Rovers. She looked ahead of her and saw the dimly lit Bistro staring back at her. That was where she must be.

Rana ran across the street as fast as she could, the rain was much heavier than she had first anticipated and she was relieved once she had reached the shelter of the building. The door was unlocked, as she had suspected and she quietly made her way inside not wanting to startle Kate.

She saw her almost immediately, she was sitting at one of the tables and she looked as if she was deep in thought. She was wearing her black funeral dress which was teamed with a yellow ribbon to raise awareness. Her hair was pulled back neatly into a bun and her eyes were pinned to the wall in front of her.

Rana let out a sigh of relief when she saw that Kate hadn’t been harmed, the recent events had caused her to worry about her even more. She walked over to her, hoping that she wouldn’t mind too much about her unexpected arrival. “Hi,” she whispered as she grew closer to Kate and she rested her palm on Kate’s shoulder once she had reached her.

Kate snapped out of her thoughts and turned to find Rana looking at her with noticeable concern in her eyes. “Hi,” she whispered back and a small smile painted her lips to try and drain some of that concern from Rana.

Rana pulled a chair out from the adjacent table and pushed it next to where Kate was sitting. She sat down making sure that she was as close to her as she could be. “Everyone’s worried about you back home.”

Kate scoffed softly and shook her head. “They needn’t be, it’s not like I’m gonna do what Aiden did, is it?”

“Kate,” Rana frowned, she knew how angry Kate was about her brother’s suicide but she hated to hear her talk in such a way.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.” Kate sighed and locked her eyes with Rana’s; she wished that she was better at dealing with the situation. She couldn’t help but feel like she was doing everything wrong.

Rana slipped her hand into Kate’s, she could tell that Kate was dealing with some inner demons and she wanted her to know that she was there for her no matter what. “How are you feeling?” She asked her and squeezed her hand for encouragement.

“I don’t know.” She sighed and looked away from her girlfriend and instead started to stare at the ground. Her voice lowered and Rana had to strain to be able to hear what it was that she was saying. “I’m still so angry with him. I can’t not be angry at him.”

Rana wanted nothing more than to wrap her up in cotton wool so that nothing could ever hurt her again. She hated seeing Kate hurting; she wished she could take all the pain away from her. “Anger is a natural response,” she whispered back to her. As a nurse, she had been in contact with many grieving families but it was always so much harder when tragedy hit closer to home.

Kate hesitated at first but then she looked back up at Rana, “I feel like everyone is dealing with this much better than I am.” She could feel herself on the brink of tears once again so she sniffed them back, not wanting to succumb to her emotions again.

Rana could tell that Kate was trying to put on a brave face; she had been trying to be brave ever since she had found out the news about her brother. She squeezed her hand comfortingly, “that’s not true, babe. Everyone deals with grief differently; it doesn’t mean that you loved him any less.”

A tear fell from her eye and she swiped it with her shoulder angrily but was only met with another tear which fell shortly afterward. “I miss him so much. Why did he have to do this for?”

Rana hated to see Kate cry, it was possibly the thing that she hated most in the entire world. She leant forward and pulled her into a tight hug. “He wasn’t well Kate. “ She whispered into her ear and rubbed her back tenderly while Kate cried softly on her shoulder. “He wouldn’t have wanted to hurt you though; he wouldn’t have wanted to hurt anybody.”

Kate waited until she had regained herself before she let go of Rana but made sure to keep her hands locked into hers as she didn’t want to break their contact entirely. “I don’t want to go.” She stated with a firm head shake. She had been considering not attending the funeral for a few days but she had not spoken about it to anybody.

“To the funeral?” Rana frowned despite knowing that the funeral was what Kate had been referring to.

She nodded, “can we just stay here? We can remember him here. I don’t want to be around everybody, I don’t want to see people that Aiden barely knew pretending like they cared about him.”

Rana traced her thumb over the back of Kate’s hand; she understood where she was coming from however she also knew that Kate may not be thinking rationally in her current state. “I’ll stay with you here if you want me to but I really think that you’ll regret it if you don’t attend. You need to be with your family at times like this. And they’ll be free drinks at the wake afterward.” She smiled, hoping that some of the tension could be relieved.

Kate groaned as she knew that what Rana was saying was correct. She should be with her family; she wasn’t the only one who was suffering. And she knew that she would regret not attending in years to come, Aiden would only have one funeral, after all. “Fine, but I’m only going for the drinks afterwards.”

Rana smiled a little wider and even managed to receive a small smile back from Kate. “It won’t be as bad as you think and I’ll be right beside you every step of the way.”

Kate leaned forward and captured Rana’s lips in a gentle kiss. “Spose we should get this over with, huh?”

“You can do this,” Rana stood up and Kate reluctantly did the same. She linked her arms through Kate’s and they slowly walked out of the Bistro together.

Kate rested her head softly on Rana’s shoulder as they were met with the cool air outside. The rain had cleared but the moisture in the air still remained. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, the rest of the day was going to be tough but it would be a whole lot tougher if she didn’t have Rana by her side.


End file.
